Quoted from philly.com and Todd Zolecki in bold from 9/12/08:

Charlie Manuel said he never meant the fans.

Manuel caused a stir yesterday with a comment he made after Wednesday's 7-3 loss to the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.

Asked about the team's recent struggles, the Phillies' manager said: "We won a game here against the Mets in extra innings [on Aug. 26], and it seemed like everyone in Philly got real high.

"The next night, we lost and there was a big difference. People got flat. Now, the team didn't, but the whole environment was that way. And that has an effect on the team and the players."

Many took "people got flat" as Manuel's blaming the fans, who have come in record numbers this year.




The problem is not with the fans, Charley and Phillies management. The problem with motivating the crowd is the stuff that used to happen in Veterans Stadium doesn't happen at Citizens Bank Park.

There is no organ music to get the crowd going in the 'new' ballpark, there is nothing really going on sound wise that helps fans 'get happy' and clap - like the old 'clapping hands' on the scoreboard you used to see to pump up the crowd at the ballpark at Veterans Stadium. These types of things always pumped up the crowd. I know because I was there and I remember all those little things. You had a couple bigger scoreboards keeping fans uptempo when the team needed a little extra help. It is no where to be found at Citizens Bank Park! That is the problem.


There isn't any thing going on except for the Phillie Phanatic, and he entertains some people but he can't do it all. He gets people clapping, but there's no music to go along with that... this needs to be fixed. You'll see more activity from fans if Phillies management recognizes that it is them that needs to do more to fix this.



Rich Baxter - Fightin Phillies blog

   The Phillies rainout forced another double header for the team, but it also afforded another day of rest for a starting pitching staff that has been pulling double duty lately. The Phillies are still in the hunt for the playoffs and I got my tickets for the playoffs ordered today!


   We need that offense to keep roaring for Saturday's game vs. the Brew Crew - The Phillies need to do something with the starting rotation. With the pitchers they have currently, that poses and interesting problem. You can demote Kendrick, who has flopped in the last three games terribly. Who do you bring into the rotation though? I think Adam Eaton is finished as a starting pitcher. He has had nothing but bad numbers this year and toward the end of last. He's lost his winning ways and even his stint in the minors had him serving up softballs to them that they hit out of the park reguarly.

    The answer to this problem is simple, JA Happ deserves the chance to give his best to the club for the last two weeks. He's got some good skills and may be a pitcher the Phillies rely on in the future. Time will tell what happens with the situation but that is one option that looks good at this point.


   

The Phillies are the team with two heads. One head is a team that could win it all, everything purrs like a kitten and when this happens it is just great. Last night the Phillies turned in what looked like the other head they have, it is ugly and when it shows itself, you just want to turn away.

The Phillies had a situation where the Nationals had the bases loaded, two ground balls and nobody threw home? This is just unexplainable. These are major league players, and this shouldn't happen. Phillies announcer on the radio, Larry Anderson, was livid on the radio broadcast of the game. You can always look to him to tell the truth about something. He did tell the truth last night, he was really mad at the Phillies and said, "There's two errors you won't see in the box score." His sidekick didn't say a word, he generally doesn't berate the Phillies but this time it was true and the Fightins looked like a high school team. Ryan Howard's indecision left him to throw to second base when he clearly had a play at the plate, the guy would have been out by 15 feet.


The Phils fall 3 whole games behind the Mets, this team could be out of it by next week at this time if things don't change for them. The bullpen implodes regularly now, the offense is producing but not enough when the bullpen implodes, and sometimes the offense doesn't show up at all. They are not out of it yet, but this weekend says it all for the team. If they can't beat the Mets, they won't be going to the playoffs.


                                Rich Baxter  -  FightinPhillies.com